


Verisimilitude

by youcouldmakealife



Series: Impaired Judgment (and other excuses) [131]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, YCMAL 'verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcouldmakealife/pseuds/youcouldmakealife
Summary: So now, instead of getting to look forward to Bryce and the Flames coming to Vancouver, Jared has to — well he’s still looking forward to it, he’s never not going to look forward to seeing Bryce, but in the meantime their friends and family have to give a bunch of bullshit soundbites to media, and Bryce coming to Vancouver will coincide with them sitting with an NHL staff reporter and lying through their teeth. Or, not lying. Summers doesn’t want them saying anything that can be proven false. Omitting through their teeth.
Relationships: OMC/OMC
Series: Impaired Judgment (and other excuses) [131]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/849798
Comments: 24
Kudos: 311





	Verisimilitude

So the Marcus-Mathesons are one big happy family.

Well, they are a family, this is true. A family feeling varying degrees of unhappiness right now; dad and mom are pissed, Elaine concerned. Erin thinks it’s funny. Of course Erin thinks it’s fucking funny. 

So now, instead of getting to look forward to Bryce and the Flames coming to Vancouver, Jared has to — well he’s still looking forward to it, he’s never not going to look forward to seeing Bryce, but in the meantime their friends and family have to give a bunch of bullshit soundbites to media, and Bryce coming to Vancouver will coincide with them sitting with an NHL staff reporter and lying through their teeth. Or, not lying. Summers doesn’t want them saying anything that can be proven false. Omitting through their teeth. 

Jared feels like he’s a suspect or something, getting suggestions from lawyers when Summers’ assistant sends him emails with suggested tacks to take. Chaz and Raf have both volunteered to lie — omit — through their teeth, and that’s apparently all the non-family angles they need. 

_I said the words ‘they instantly clicked’ today._ Raf texts the group chat after his phone interview. _I was honestly expecting God to smite me the spot._

 _we did click!_ Bryce replies.

 _OK B._ Raf says.

Grace sends a string of crying laughing emojis.

 _im up next in getting struck down by god_ Chaz says. _wanna ok ash’s pics?_

Ashley’s taken a number of pictures over the years, none of them particularly compromising — she deletes ones she thinks might be — and along with ones of the training group, she sends a few from their wedding as well. None of him and Bryce, but a nice one of Elaine and Erin laughing together, another of Elaine and his mom. Enough to establish that the families have known each other for years.

 _I like that one of my mom and Erin_ , Bryce sends. _def give her that one_.

Ashley and Chaz both send thumbs up.

*

Bryce and Jared are getting interviewed last, the only face to face interview, thanks to the reporter being based in Vancouver. Jared doesn’t know if the Canucks stepped in on this, if they know exactly what’s happening, isn’t sure what he wants the answer to be. By all accounts she’s treating it like a puff piece, not asking any leading questions, just basic ones and letting people fill in whatever, so it’s hard to tell if she honestly thinks she’s doing an article about a heart warming friendship, or if she’s figured out something’s up.

Elaine says she was nice. Dad said she was ‘fine’, noncommittal, which probably means she was nice. Jared waits for Erin’s take. She’s less likely to be polite, considering her spot in all this.

 _Had my 15 minutes of fame_ , Erin texts him.

“Dude, you’re freaking out,” Erin says when Jared immediately calls her.

“I’m not freaking out,” Jared says.

“You just called me,” Erin says. “On the phone. The _telephone_. Like a freak-outer.”

“You’re a freak-outer,” Jared mutters. “How did it go?”

“She was fine, really sympathetic, all ‘poor you that must have been such a shock to see yourself on twitter’,” Erin says, going a little high pitched and sickly sweet as she imitates the reporter. “I said Bryce was like my big brother and she thought that was sweet and then I said he was my favourite brother and she laughed.”

Jared snorts.

“I didn’t even have to lie once,” Erin says.

“You just like him because he buys you stuff,” Jared says.

“I like him because he’s way nicer than you,” Erin says.

Well. He is way nicer than Jared. Jared’s not going to debate that.

“And because he buys you stuff,” Jared says.

“What, like I’m gonna say no to stuff?” Erin says. “I’m a poor university student now.”

“Do not do that ‘I’m a poor university student’ to get more stuff from him,” Jared says.

Erin makes a non-committal sound.

“How’s school?” Jared says.

“Fine,” Erin says. “Only had one dude walk up and ask me if I’m Bryce Marcus’ girlfriend.”

Jared winces. “Sorry,” he says.

“Eh,” Erin says, and Jared can practically hear the hand wave. “I got a staycation out of it at least. You’re just lucky no one was taking pictures at Whistler.”

Jared is in fact very lucky. They got too complacent, and they’re paying for it now, but it’s a much smaller price than they potentially would have had to pay. Jared may be okay with some people knowing, including the Canucks roster, but that does not and will not include the media, especially after the way they’ve treated Bryce for years. Fuck the media. They’d turn their marriage into something tawdry.

Jared hears voices in the background, then Erin says, “Gotta go, I’m being conscripted into getting lunch.”

“You made friends?” Jared says. “Sounds questionable.”

“Suck my dick,” Erin says and hangs up on him.

*

Bryce gets into Vancouver with just enough time for them to get a quick brunch with Elaine before the interview with Weber. Bryce fiddles with his wedding ring during it, doesn’t seem to realise he’s doing it, which makes Jared want to fiddle with his, reminds him of what Stephen said. That Stephen may have a point. It’s strange the things you don’t notice you’re doing, the things that someone else may notice you doing. It’s a risk they probably shouldn’t be taking right now.

“Something’s bugging you,” Bryce says after Jared parks in his spot at Rogers Arena. They’re meeting her there, and Jared doesn’t know if that’s something all NHL reporters get, or that was, again, Canucks PR stepping in. It’s not something he wants to think about. 

“Other than everything?” Jared says.

“Yeah,” Bryce says. “Other than everything.”

“Should I take my ring off?” Jared asks.

Bryce glances over at him.

“Stephen said — you know, that there might be more attention,” Jared says. “After the article comes out. And that it might be a good idea for me to take it off for a bit.”

“I think you should do whatever you think you should do,” Bryce says.

“That’s really helpful, thanks,” Jared snaps.

“J,” Bryce says, sounding tired. “Just — it’s up to you.”

Jared twists his ring around his finger. Even from a distance you can see how similar it is to Bryce’s, and yeah, they’re traditional rings, plenty of people have the same ones, but —

“Can you help with my chain?” Jared asks, and he doesn’t know if it’s disappointment or relief on Bryce’s face, a blink and you miss it flash, before Bryce helps him undo the clasp. Jared strings his wedding ring on it, clinking against the engagement one, and ducks his head to let Bryce put it back on. Bryce presses a kiss against the nape of his neck, murmurs, “Done,” and Jared straightens up. In more ways than one, it feels like. That’s a bad joke even in his own head, all bitterness, no humour, so he doesn’t say it.

Jared runs through the script in his head while they walk in, find the media room, wait for Weber to arrive, sitting a scrupulous two feet apart. It was more lines to take rather than an actual set script, ‘like family’ and ‘a lot in common’, ways to deflect a question without outright lying. Since Summers is anti-outright lying you get shit like ‘the Mathesons went to Bryce’s wedding’, which is one hundred percent true and also absolute bullshit. It’s a fine line to walk, and they’re walking it. Jared’s a little afraid they’re about to overshoot it in one way or another, that something’s going to be obvious to a certain sort of person, the written equivalent of Gabe knowing within minutes of meeting Bryce that he was Jared’s husband.

Weber does seem nice, or maybe she’s just good at giving that impression, getting people’s guards down. That’s probably a little overly suspicious. She works for NHL.com, so she’s fundamentally more of a PR person than a reporter — the NHL isn’t going to publish anything that makes a player look bad. She’s here for a heartwarming friendship puff piece. They’ll give it to her.

“He’s my best friend,” Bryce says after a lot of other fluff, laying it on thick. There’s nothing but honesty in his voice as he says it, but then — he is being honest, Jared knows. It’s not the whole story, but it’s not like he isn’t Bryce’s best friend. Like Bryce isn’t his. “Some people you just know are supposed to be in your life.”

“I don’t know about best,” Jared says quickly, because Bryce is getting like — too honest now, skirting towards something they shouldn’t be. “I have a lot of friends.”

“Jared,” Bryce complains. 

Jared grins at his sullen face. “He’s my best friend too.”

Bryce goes pink, which is ridiculous, and something Jared hopes Weber doesn’t notice, or, if she does, doesn’t write down. Or like, says ‘Bryce appears bashful’ or something, not ‘Bryce blushes like a kid with a crush’. Jared wants to tuck his foot against Bryce’s, wants to find his hand, wants his ring finger not to feel empty. He fiddles with his chain, double checks his rings are safely tucked under his shirt, even though he can feel them against his skin.

“How is it, being so close to a player on a rival team?” Weber asks.

“We put it aside,” Jared says. This bit he doesn’t need a script for. “Obviously when it’s game time we both do our best to win, but whatever happens — it’s hockey. You don’t let it define you at the end of the day. Some things are more important.”

“Totally agree,” Bryce says. 

“Would it be the same if you were to face off in the playoffs this year?” she asks, and Jared is not superstitious, he is not, but he still wants that question not out in the air right now. God fucking forbid.

“Absolutely,” Bryce says instantly.

“All bets are off,” Jared says with a forced laugh, because that’s the role he thinks he’s fallen into, like it was with media with Julius, the earnest straight man — yet another unfunny joke — and the one who needles him. Someone said Jared ‘gave OJ a personality’, like Julius doesn’t have one of his own, like anyone’s entitled to it. Julius has a personality. It’s a mean one: he’s been laughing his ass off about this article since Jared told him. 

Bryce elbows him in the side.

Jared elbows him back. That probably seems like, bros. Jared elbows his bros. Raf and Chaz and Julius have definitely received elbows. Safely bros. 

“I talked to Chaz Rossi and he said that it was pretty unfair how people are prying into your personal life, Bryce,” Weber says. “Specifically that people assumed his girlfriend Ashley was your wife, and now assumptions made about Jared’s sister, a lot of speculation without credibility. Do you have any comments about that? How does your wife feel about all of this?”

Jared is very, very aware of his face right now, and working very hard to exude complete neutrality with it. 

“I just want my private life to stay private,” Bryce says, and this Jared thinks is actually scripted, that Summers gave him a real script, because Bryce is saying it like it’s been rehearsed. “Marriage is between two people, and it’s something that other people aren’t entitled to. I don’t really want to discuss it with the fans or the media, because it’s not really any of their business.”

“Fair enough,” Weber says. “Anything else either of you want to say?”

Jared shrugs, and Bryce glances over at him uncertainly then shrugs too.

“Thanks for your time,” Weber says. “Good luck tonight, guys.”

She shakes both their hands and then she’s out the door, probably off to finish the article, which is supposed to hit tomorrow morning. Jared has pregame, and Bryce does too, they don’t have time to go back to Jared’s apartment, or even to just carve out some time somewhere private enough that Jared can touch him. They have to part with the kind of hug bros give, go their separate ways.

“Where’s your ring?” Gabe asks quietly during pregame.

“Had the stupid interview today,” Jared says. “I took it off. Tell Stephen thanks for the advice.”

It comes out more bitter than he means it to.

“He’s just looking out for you,” Gabe says.

“I know,” Jared says. “Fuck, sorry. I know, I just—”

“It’s cool,” Gabe says, shaking Jared’s shoulder. “You’re good, man.”

“Thanks,” Jared says.

“You’re good?” Gabe says, a question this time.

Jared shrugs.

“You’re good,” Gabe decides.

“Your vocabulary is extraordinary,” Jared says. “I am astonished by it.”

“Fuck you too,” Gabe laughs.

Jared tries to get his head in the game during warmups, pots some shots, stretches his legs, but he can’t focus on the game when Chaz is lurking unsubtly around centre ice. Jared skates over when the Canucks start eyeing Chaz with vague suspicion.

“You good?” he asks. 

“I’m good,” Jared says. “B?”

Chaz shrugs. “Hard to tell with him sometimes,” he says.

Jared doesn’t find it hard, but he’s well aware he has an inside track.

Bryce skates over, hovering behind Chaz’s shoulder, and Jared eyes him.

“There’s a story about to hit about how you two are BFFs, stop giving him dagger eyes,” Chaz says, and Jared snorts.

“Good luck tonight, J,” Bryce says.

“You too,” Jared says, accepts the shoulder bump from Chaz, nods at Bryce before he skates back over to Gabe.

“Shrewd,” Gabe says. “Good verisimilitude. Stephen would be proud.”

Jared blinks at him. 

“I don’t understand half the words he says,” Dmitry says consolingly.

“I understood it,” Jared says, tilting his chin up. He refuses to commiserate with Dmitry Kurmazov.

“What’s verisimilitude mean?” Jared hisses at Gabe on the bench before the anthem.

Gabe tips back his head in a laugh and refuses to tell him.

The Canucks win. It’s not even close. No one asks Jared anything, let alone anything about Bryce, because he didn’t have a single point. Not a great day. It helps that it ends with him and Bryce curled up in his bed, but then Bryce’s alarm is going off first thing in the morning and he’s leaving and everything sucks again.

Verisimilitude is seeming true, appearing credible. Considering how it went when Gabe met Bryce, Jared will take it as a compliment. Also a convincing retort to Jared’s dig about his vocabulary. 

The article drops. Jared doesn’t read it, but he’s assured it’s fine. He doesn’t read replies on twitter or forums or anything. It’s not his job. He can’t focus on it. 

Jared flies into Calgary a week later, wedding ring back on his finger. It’s probably smarter to leave it off for longer, but he feels naked without it, ashamed. And he isn’t ashamed. He sees his parents, sleeps in what he still considers his own bed. Bryce isn’t supposed to play that preseason game, but he ends up in the roster last minute thanks to the flu going around. Jared doesn’t mind. 

And then he kind of minds, because Bryce comes storming out of the gate. Jared doesn’t know if it’s the Calgary media, or the storyline about their families, or just Bryce being the incredibly talented player he is, but the Canucks are mortified in a 6-1 loss, and Bryce has a hat trick and a four point game. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a preseason game and means nothing. In the smaller scheme of Jared’s life, he kind of wants to throttle Bryce. And only a little bit in a sexy way. They’ll see who’s laughing when Jared rides him within an inch of his life. 

It’ll probably still be Bryce. Fuck. Doesn’t mean Jared won’t do it. He’s not in the line-up for the next game; Bryce won’t know what hit him.

Jared gets mics in his face after the game, and he has no doubt it’s because of the article, since Jared didn’t do shit all game. Well, okay, he had an assist on the lone goal from Dmitry, but he doubts anyone’s focusing on that after a rout.

“You and Bryce Marcus,” Beaver starts, and Jared exudes neutral. Completely neutral. “According to reports, are good friends.”

“Very good friends,” Jared says flatly.

“How does it feel, playing him?” he gets.

“In games like this?” Jared says. “Absolutely terrible.”

He gets a laugh. He considers it a victory.

“Do you still hang out after these kinds of games?” Jacobs asks.

“Winner buys,” Jared says. “That’s the way it goes.”

“So I guess you’re getting a lot of drinks tonight!” the new Sportsnet guy says.

“Apparently, yeah,” Jared says.

Riding him until he fucking _begs_ is now in the cards.


End file.
